Tuscaloosa News, Alabama, 13 May 2004

Doctor calls paddling excessive

BIRMINGHAM: A Birmingham doctor who treated a Northport middle school student after his football coach paddled him is calling the paddling "shockingly egregious and excessively powerful."

The comments were contained in an affidavit filed last week that
summarizes the treatment provided by the doctor, Timothy Mark
Ricketts, to the student, Ryan Hebert.

Ricketts first treated Ryan the day after he was paddled in
December 2001. Ricketts is his long-term family doctor.

"I have been practicing around 15 years and have seen numerous injuries, including paddling injuries," Ricketts wrote in the affidavit. "However, I have never before seen a mark on a child like this teacher left on Ryan, which, during the course of treatment, I discovered was caused by only one hit."

Griffin declined to comment Wednesday about the recently filed
records in the case.

The lawsuit alleges that Griffin paddled Ryan out of anger and used excessive force in violation of Ryan's civil rights under the U.S. Constitution.

The suit was the first challenge to the county school system's corporal punishment policy, and it originally named as defendants the Tuscaloosa County Board of Education; the school's principal, Glenn Taylor; and physical education teacher Jimmy Brittain.

But the school board and Taylor were dismissed from the case last year because the judge, U.W. Clemon, found that the complaint failed to allege that the school board and principal were on
notice that Griffin had a practice of using excessive force in
administering corporal punishment.

Brittain was also dismissed because the court found that the
Heberts' allegation that Brittain failed to intervene when Griffin administered the paddling did "not rise to the level of a constitutional violation."

Ricketts' affidavit was attached to the Heberts' response to Griffin's motion for summary judgment, which in essence asks the court to dismiss the case that remains against him.

Clemon will decide next whether to hear oral arguments pertaining to Griffin's motion, or simply make a decision in writing granting or denying it.

The Daily Post-Athenian, Athens, Tennessee, 17 May 2004

Parents blast dress code and paddling

By Johnny Hutsell-RoysterStaff Writer

DECATUR -- Approximately 50 people turned out for the Meigs County
School Board meeting Thursday to complain about the new dress
code that bans jeans, as well as to protest corporal punishment
which one parent called "child abuse."

Given the floor to speak first, Missy Mashburn said her son had been
paddled for not doing makeup work. She said she understood the punishment for that was to receive a zero for work not completed, not paddling.

Mashburn said she previously sent a note for her son's file, saying she
was to be notified before corporal punishment was administered. She said when she had her son's file opened, the note was not included.

"I also wasn't contacted," she said. "When (Director of Schools Robert) Greene asked the teacher ... if she had contacted me, she said she had intended to but hadn't had the chance," Mashburn said.

"What would happen if I hit your kid?" she asked the Board and Greene. "I'd be charged with child abuse," she answered her own question. "I believe that my child has been abused. If parents don't protect their children, who will?" she asked.

"There is no consistency. I called Nashville (State Department of
Education) and asked, 'What happens to teachers when they do wrong? How are teachers and principals disciplined? They said I should ask that question tonight, but I've gotten no answer," Mashburn said.

Later in the meeting Greene referred to his administrative directive given to the school system from his office for the upcoming 2004-05 school
year which reads:

•Be knowledgeable of the Meigs County Board of Education Policy.

•Each principal or designee shall be responsible for gathering written
requests from each parent not wanting their child paddled.

•The principal shall prepare a school wide list of students not to be
paddled.

•A copy of the list shall be distributed to all personnel that may be
administering corporal punishment.

•All personnel are required to refer to the list before administering
corporal punishment.

•If there is any question, the principal and /or parent should be
contacted.

Greene said it's only an "administrative directive" and if the Board members want to make it part of School Board Policy, they can.

When the floor was given to parents who asked to speak against the new
dress code policy, Lori Knox read a letter.

Knox said she had attended school in Meigs County and received a good
education. She said in her childhood, denim jeans were allowed
but did not help nor hinder the educational process.

"I realize times have changed and some parents don't monitor their children as closely as they should. But how (does) wearing a regular pair of four-pocket blue jeans interfere with a child's education?" she asked.

KTRE.com (KTRE-TV), Lufkin/Nacogdoches, Texas, 19 May 2004

Paddling Investigation - Pros And Cons Of Pops

By Donna McCollum

Groveton Police Chief Robert Meager is investigating the second complaint this year of injury to a child involving the Groveton Independent School District. Meager said the complaint was filed by Child Protective Services.

Meager can't provide any more details until after his investigation. However, the chief has completed his probe of a 10-year-old who was paddled by a Groveton coach. The case will be sent to the Trinity County District Attorney's office.

According to the child's mother, Lynn Causby, the punishment caused her son bleeding and bruises that didn't go away for weeks. Causby removed her child from the school and has filed civil and criminal complaints.

Reaction

That story first reported last month generated reaction about corporal punishment in schools. Anti-paddling organizations from Ohio, California, and Texas responded. We also heard from those of you who said, 'A swat didn't hurt you so it won't hurt your child."

Paddling - The Pros and Cons

Often, the mere presence of Assistant High School Principal David Russell encourages good behavior at Central Heights Schools. Yet every student knows a trip to his end office could result with a paddling or pops.

"The first thing I ask them is if they have anything in their back pockets?", is what Russell says right before a paddling.

And, sometimes, just knowing about the paddle works. "There are some students who just the threat of knowing corporal punishment is there, that's enough to make them toe the line," said Russell.

It's not required by the state, but Central Heights sends a consent form home asking parents' permission to use corporal punishment.

The issue always leads to debate at the Matheny household. "There's definitely a place for it. A lot of times the only discipline children get sometimes are at school," said Kevin Matheny. His wife, Donna Matheny, thinks differently. "I just don't want it so easily administered that it's not abusive, but overdone."

No difference according to the Founder and President of People Opposed to Paddling Students Jimmy Dunne. "Paddling we consider to be legalized child abuse," said Dunne.

For 23 years, the former math teacher has led a national crusade against paddling and spanking. He has a collection of photographs of children's bruised buttocks who were paddled. "You can see how these children are hurt. Sometimes, it's even an injury that lasts for many, many years," according to Dunne.

The Houston resident has told school boards to national talk show host Phil Donohue that laws have a double standard in reporting injuries of children. "If they (educators) saw a bruise like that come from home, they would have to report it to the authorities. When it comes from within the school, they're not likely to report it because it's their own people doing this," explained Dunne.

Dunne contends paddling teaches kids to hit during conflicts, promotes anger, and leads to expensive lawsuits. All reasons why more school districts are putting the paddle away.

"It's been abolished now in 28 states. It should be abolished in Texas. We have a lot of it going on in East Texas where[as] it's been abolished in Houston, San Antonio, and Austin."

Those districts now resort to other forms of effective punishment that even Principal Russell may use before picking up his paddle. "Corporal punishment is not the only form of discipline that can correct things," said Russell.

So if other discipline measures work, why paddle at all? Russell says when asked that question he answers, "First of all, in Texas, it's legal."

But only in schools. Striking another person is not allowed in prisons, in the military, or in mental hospitals. Even so, some educators strongly believe a paddling is due payment for a child whose unruliness denies others an education.

In Texas, close to 74,000 students in public schools were hit for punishment during the 1999-2000 school year, according to the U.S. of Education, Office of Civil Rights.

Sedalia Democrat, Missouri, 20 May 2004

'Old school' principal steps down after 33 years

An "old school" principal will step down from the helm in Green Ridge.

Bob Stone will retire after sitting in the Green Ridge Elementary School principal's office for 33 years. He will return to the classroom as a part-time math teacher.

Mr. Stone, 54, maintained discipline in his school with a style some would question. A wooden paddle kept on his book shelf is more than a symbol. With parents' permission, it's been used to "swat" misbehaving students.

"I still, upon request, have used it," Mr. Stone said.

Mr. Stone said Dr. Benjamin Spock, an author who preached common sense instead of corporal punishment for children in the mid to late 1900s, "has been a huge detriment to education."

Recently a parent chose swats over a three-day suspension for his son.

Mr. Stone taught fourth-grade in Green Ridge for one year before being offered the principal's job. He'd announced a decision to move to another district when the more lucrative offer kept him in Green Ridge.

"That was $500 more, and I said 'Hey, yes.' Kind of mercenary I guess," Mr. Stone said.

With pygmy goats and chickens on his land outside of town, Mr. Stone now calls Green Ridge home. Traditional multi-generational families and a good staff made his experience positive, he said.

"Fortunately we still have a strong community," he said. "We've been extremely lucky here. We keep good teachers. They like the values here at school. Seeing (students) go out and be very productive, be very positive contributors to society, it makes you proud."

The grand jury also asked the county school board to review its disciplinary policies and procedures and recommended it include a clause requiring that a consenting parent be present whenever a child is paddled at school.

Superintendent Robert Hawk said the grand jury's recommendation for parental presence at paddlings could lead the school board to curtail or do away with corporal punishment.

Hawk said school officials are "certainly relieved" that Mountain View Elementary School Assistant Principal Anthony Crawford was not indicted on the charges of cruelty to children in the first degree, simple battery and reckless conduct. Crawford, 41, of Conley, is in his first year of employment with the school district.

"This parent was consulted the day it occurred," Hawk said Wednesday. "The parent was asked to pick up the child. But the parent didn't have time to come in and said to paddle him."

The grand jury recommendation "essentially kills the corporal punishment option," Hawk said. "If you have the parent come in, then obviously they should handle the punishment. We're not tied to a corporal punishment policy. It's just an option offered. Corporal punishment sends a message to a youngster that if he, in fact, does misbehave, he can be paddled. That will be an agenda item at the next board meeting. We want to weigh it carefully and see what we need to do."

Since the Jan. 21 incident, Hawk said no child has been paddled at the school.

"The principal is the final determinant whether corporal punishment is administered," he said. "I doubt he would sanction it in the future. It's not worth the possibilities. That's one option that's going to be severely restricted."

Indianapolis Star, 25 May 2004

IPS Board set to prohibit paddling

Members will vote tonight on corporal punishment ban; several
parents voice support for disciplinary measure.

By Kim L. Hooper

Jeff Charles, who traveled from Roseville, Mich., to attend Monday's School Board meeting,
says spanking teaches children it's all right to use violence to resolve problems. -- Adriane Jaeckle / The Star

Most parents who spoke at an Indianapolis Public
School Board meeting Monday night said they backed spanking
students and urged the district to continue to allow paddling.

But six of the seven board members said it's time for a change.

And with opposition that solid, the controversial
disciplinary policy is likely to be struck from the books at
tonight's board meeting, where Resolution No. 7503 should pass by
majority vote. The resolution -- an update to the district's
decades-old corporal punishment policy -- will prohibit the use
of wooden paddles to spank children and repeal a 1985 rule.

"Corporal punishment is a lazy way to deal
with behavior," said board member Kelly E. Bentley. "We
have a responsibility to take more time with our kids."

But of the eight parents who spoke at Monday's
meeting, just three spoke in favor of eliminating the policy.
Overall, 15 people showed up for the meeting at IPS' central
office Downtown; many of them were social workers in elementary
schools in the district.

Those fifth-grade teachers, Ulysses Coleman and Rachelle Phifer, were suspended for five weeks pending the outcome of investigations by child protection workers and an internal IPS probe. Both were cleared of any wrongdoing and have since returned to their jobs.

Their absence from the classroom left a void for children when the district had to replace them with substitutes or unlicensed teachers.

Phifer also attended the meeting and explained why she supports student spankings over other forms of discipline, such as expulsions or suspensions.

"I don't believe in suspensions because I can't teach them at home," said the 10-year veteran, who was joined by a small group of supporters.

Detractors assigned a multitude of ills to paddling, saying states that allow spanking have lower student achievement than those that prohibit the practice. Indiana is among 22 states that allow paddling, and the practice has been on the books in IPS for more than 30 years.

Dennis Palmore said he was paddled when he was a
child in school and still carries the emotional scars.

"All it did for me is make me hate the people who hit me. . . . It's not right. . . . I had Columbine feelings for a long time," said Palmore, who is the guardian of his deceased sister's children, who attend School 69. "The little children don't get to say how they feel."

Cynthia D. Jackson collected essays from students
on the issue and read them to the board. One child wrote that
parents might sue schools if their children are spanked. Another
wrote that some kids will hit back if they're struck.

"I think it's important that you hear their voices," Jackson said.

Jeff Charles traveled from Roseville, Mich., to attend Monday's meeting. Charles has an anti-paddling Internet site and is devoted to ending the practice. He brought a wooden paddle that he used in a demonstration as he tried to explain how spanking teaches children it's all right to use violence to resolve problems.

Indianapolis Star, 26 May 2004

IPS Board votes to end paddling

History of policy
• 1970: Indianapolis Public School Board allows paddling in the
schools.
• April 1977: U.S. Supreme Court rules that paddling is not cruel
and unusual punishment.
• March 1985: IPS Board revises policy on paddling, replacing a
one-paragraph statement on corporal punishment with a three-page policy.
• January 1988: Proposed ban on paddling Indiana students dies in the Indiana House Education Committee.
• February 1993: Another effort to ban paddling is soundly
defeated in the Senate Education Committee.
• March 2004: Two Indianapolis Public Schools teachers are suspended after six third-graders were paddled. Investigation clears them of
wrongdoing.
• May 25, 2004: The IPS Board orders an end to paddling in district schools.
Research by Star library staff

The Indianapolis Public School Board moved to
eliminate corporal punishment at its 79 schools Tuesday, bringing
an end to a decades-old policy and galvanizing the efforts of
advocates seeking a statewide ban.

In a landmark decision monitored closely by national groups, the board voted 6-1 to strike a policy allowing teachers to discipline students by spanking them with a wooden paddle. The vote was held at the board's meeting room in Downtown Indianapolis.

Most IPS schools abandoned the act of paddling
years ago, as many educators came to view the approach as a relic
of a bygone era. But the debate resurfaced in March when two IPS
teachers were suspended for five weeks after they paddled six
third-grade boys. Both teachers have since been cleared of any
wrongdoing and returned to their jobs.

Paddling opponents hailed the vote as a turning
point in Indiana, which is one of 22 states that allow the
practice. The state has allowed the punishment for at least 30
years, last revising the law in 1995.

Indianapolis had been one of the largest districts in the nation still allowing some form of corporal punishment, advocates say. About 90 of the nation's 100 largest school districts have banned corporal punishment. Pritchett said IPS, which has a student enrollment of about 40,000, sits just
outside the top 100.

"It's a national trend, and we're following it," he said.

Board President Marianna R. Zaphiriou said the
district had a duty to change.

"It is time for us as a public educational
institution to be a role model," she said, "and say
that hitting children is not acceptable."

Advocates of corporal punishment maintain the practice is a time-honored and effective form of discipline -- more efficient and persuasive than, say, suspensions or detention. Others point to how the practice is often underscored
as a legitimate disciplinary tool in many religions, including Christianity.

"For those who believe corporal punishment is not a deterrent, they are not being honest," said board member Michael D. Brown, a local pastor who cast the lone vote against the ban. "It is a deterrent. And if they take that away, they are taking an option away from teachers and parents."

Brown said a sizeable number of parents still
champion the practice. As evidence, he referred to a sparsely
attended public hearing on the matter held Monday; five of the
eight parents who testified spoke favorably about IPS' policy.

But opponents in recent years have charted a
national progression away from paddling. Their case is anchored
by a growing body of research suggesting that repeated physical
maltreatment could lower student achievement and inflict lasting
harm on student psyches.

The seeds of reform are evident even in the Deep
South, where support for corporal punishment remains the
strongest, said Nadine Block, a retired school psychologist and
director for the Center for Effective Discipline in Columbus,
Ohio, an anti-corporal punishment group.

School officials in Dallas last fall approved a
partial ban of the practice, requiring that parents give written
permission before their child is disciplined. Educators in
Georgia are considering a similar measure that would oblige
parents to be present during the act. Pennsylvania lawmakers are
expected to ban the practice sometime this year, making the state
the 29th to do so.

This month, meanwhile, leaders of the United Methodist Church passed a resolution opposing corporal punishment, saying that it "models aggressive
behavior."

"What we're seeing is a melting of the opposition," Block said. "Once it's banned, people often say, 'I can't believe we used to do that.' I would like to see the last paddle hung in the Smithsonian one day. "

Block said the board's vote puts pressure on the Indiana legislature to adopt a statewide ban, though lawmakers have so far shown little serious interest in passing such a measure.

Peggy Hattiex-Penn, who represents two-thirds of
IPS' roughly 3,000 teachers as president of the Indianapolis
Education Association, sees corporal punishment as a fading
practice. It's not backed by research, she said, adds to the
threat of legal action against educators and burdens many young
teachers with the unfamiliar responsibility of dishing out
physical punishment.

As a new generation of teachers is hired into the
ranks of IPS and other major school districts across the nation,
Hattiex-Penn said, the days of the wooden paddle are numbered.

"The research says it doesn't help any," she said. "And I don't think it's really worth it. The teachers, they just don't want to get into that. It just doesn't work."

Anderson has paddled several players for poor play while
verbally abusing others, including calling some players a
"bitch," the report said. It also says he hit a player
in the chest with a "closed fist."

According to city schools' policy, corporal punishment is to
be given "by the principal, acting principal, assistant
principal or the teacher involved, provided permission is granted
by and the punishment witnessed by one of the three previously
mentioned administrative persons."

The report also said he made improper sexual comments to a
fellow teacher and mentions possible sexual contact with
students, though it says that can't be proven.

The report also says that four basketball players cheated on
the TCAP test and that other athletes cheated on the ACT exam.

An unnamed teacher gave as many as 42 Gateway test answers in
two of his classes, the report states.

Former assistant principal Van Snyder is accused in the report
of making sexual comments or overtures to at least four students.
Snyder resigned April 23. A letter in his personnel file gave no
details, but he was put on paid leave March 24.

This report follows earlier turmoil at Hamilton, when former
football coach Jeff Sawyer fathered a child with a student, then
tried to arrange an abortion.

Former principal Osceola 'Sonny' Hicks lost his job in the
wake of that investigation.

Anderson called the new allegations "ludicrous," saying that many of the claims came from a disgruntled former player.

He wouldn't name the player, but said it wasn't Shawne
Williams, a University of Memphis signee who transferred to a
prep school earlier this year. Williams couldn't be reached for
comment.

Others rallied behind Anderson, who is also Hamilton's
athletic director.

"I've known Coach A a long time, and he's one of the best
coaches I've been around," said Arthur Faulkner, whose son
Omari played for Anderson.

Faulkner said he was unaware of any paddling or name calling.

Former NBA player Todd Day, a Hamilton graduate and Anderson's stepson, said he was frequently paddled, but mostly for disciplinary reasons. He added that discipline could be classroom- or basketball-related.

"He's the kind of coach, if you were cutting up at school, he'd wait and get you at practice," said Day, who attended Tuesday's practice.

Day also said he's heard Anderson use the word "bitch," but never toward players.

Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association executive
director Ronnie Carter said few of the report's alleged
violations came under his purview.

Corporal punishment is largely disappearing from
the nation's educational landscape. Even in the 22 states,
including Indiana, that still allow paddling, more than half the
children attend school districts that prohibit the practice.
Three decades ago, an estimated 1.5 million students were spanked
in the nation's schools each year. As of 2000, the number had
dropped to 342,038.

More than 107 organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, the National Association of State Boards of Education and the National Education Association oppose physical punishment.

And with good reason.

There is little evidence that corporal punishment brings about positive, long-term changes in students' unwanted behavior. Although paddling or spanking may produce short-term results, the growing evidence is that over the long haul it makes children more rebellious, more aggressive, more violent and more
likely to act out.

Teachers and principals certainly need the authority to remove disruptive students from the classroom, and school if necessary, to maintain order and promote learning. Especially in large school districts such as IPS, alternative schools staffed with people trained to deal with problem children often work well.

Schools also need to make parents more effective partners in the disciplining of their children. In some instances, parents may opt to administer some form of corporal punishment at home after being notified of problems at school. That's their business.

Institutional violence has been outlawed against women, sailors, domestic servants, prisoners and those who are insane. The school board was right to end its use in the form of paddling students.